Hearing loss develops slowly and manifests itself in our daily lives in all sorts of unexpected ways. One of the most common signs that you may be dealing with hearing loss occurs when you discover that you constantly need the television volume turned higher than those around you to hear.
Not only can this cause constant arguments and tension in a household, but can just be frustrating. The good news is that treating your hearing loss with hearing aids, can not only make your interactions with friends, family and co-workers go more smoothly, but can also make television and movie viewing much more enjoyable.
Assistive listening features to make television more enjoyable
Simply turning up the volume on the TV may not only annoy the others watching with you but can often degrade sound further causing distortion rather than clarity. When you invest in hearing aids it becomes much easier to hear the television, along with most sounds you interact with on a daily basis.
Today’s hearing aids are much more advanced than hearing aids of the past with features that reduce background noise, have separate settings for listening to media like TV, and that can even connect via Bluetooth with your television for direct audio streaming to your hearing device.
Many of the newest hearing aids come equipped with assistive listening features including closed captioning, and the ability to send the audio signal wirelessly to headphones or hearing aids.
Advantages of hearing devices for the Television
Today’s assistive listening devices are compatible with wireless headphones and hearing devices, eliminating background noise and other interferences that can make it more difficult to hear.
Not only is the quality of sound superior when you stream sound to personal listen devices but you will be able to control your own personal volume. This will ensure that you can hear, while avoiding built up family conflict about the volume of sound. Your family is able to enjoy television together again, without the stress of hearing issues.
Bluetooth and hearing aids
Bluetooth technology not only eliminates the need for cumbersome chords of headphones but also is rather effortless once it is set up. Once your hearing aids are connected to your television via Bluetooth it simply takes the touch of a button to connect. Modern hearing aids are often compatible with your Smartphone, allowing you to connect easily to your television controlling the volume and more via an accessible app.
Telecoil and TV
A telecoil is a small coil inside of many modern hearing aids. The coil is a small receiver, which picks up signals from a loop system installed in a room, acting as an electromagnetic field.
Not only does telecoil allow you to bypass environmental noise but can be filtered via personal settings by your audiologist for your particular manner of hearing loss. While this comes in handy when watching TV it is more commonly used in large public listening environments like auditoriums, movie theaters and churches to make it easier for hearing aid users to hear in public settings.
TV headphones for hearing impaired
If your hearing aids are not compatible with your television there are other options out there. TV headphones have a wireless jack that plugs into the audio port of your television.
Many of these headphones use infrared light to transmit audio signals from the transmission base to the earphones. These headphones have controls on the headset to control volume and must be in a clear line of connection with the television to function properly. For those who have multiple family members with hearing issues, one transmission base can power multiple TV headphones.
Captioned television
No matter what your hearing issues are, it is often helpful to take advantage of closed captioning, which types out speech and noise of TV and movies clearly on the screen. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has mandated that all digital televisions with screens greater than 13″ offer closed captioning.
Finding the best solution
Don’t struggle to watch TV with your family any longer. If you are having issues at home watching TV and more it may be time to invest in hearing aids or perhaps it is time to upgrade to a newer model with modern features for more enjoyable television viewing. Contact us today and we can help find the best solution for your hearing issues.